Following this Blog

Readers around the world

.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

I was changing the gas in my emergency generator today and thought of
you (I asked you about generators several years ago before I purchased a
2800 W Yamaha with a pure sine wave inverter - very nice, very quite).

At the bottom of page 217 you wrote, "Example: if the USD crashes and
you decide to sell some PM's to buy a month's worth of supplies, do it
quickly, sell the PM's or Euros or whatever other solid currency you
have and use the dollars that same day or the following day at most"

I understand the concept. Get rid of the currency ASAP due to the
inflation risk of a depreciating currency. Otherwise keep the investment
in PM's or stronger currency.

My question is the timeline of the currency decline in Argentina. I
assume, when the banks first closed, cash was king. I assume, if you had
cash for that first week while the majority of people did not it was a
blessing. But, for how long. Would it have been wiser to transfer the
cash in the early stages, or even prior, of the decline into other hard
assets such as food, or ???. (CURRENT EXAMPLE: In the USA if you haven't
acquired your self-defense tools by now, you are too late to the party)

FYI - I read your book when it first came out and I have successfully
prepared according to your suggestions. I have been truly blessed and
have accumulated diversified assets over the years. QUESTION: Is having a
substantial amount of cash on hand/home (6 months expenses plus) too
much? Will having cash allow me to buy objects for a "deal" if the banks
are not open for that first week, or is that not how it went down in
Argentina? Did the value of money decline immediately? I already have
reserve food. But was thinking that when this happens I would
immediately take that money, go to the Grocery/Warehouse and stock up
large. Once again I have prepared according to your recommendations in
the book. I currently have everything else -PM's-Self
Defense-4wd-BOL-Bibles-Water-Food. I am just wondering if I am placing
too much value on having cash when it does fall apart.

Thanks for all of your insight,

Gerry

Hi Gerry,

Having too much cash is a problem lots of people would
love to have :-) ! But I do see your point.

How fast a currency loses value can be a matter of
hours, even minutes. I’ve related many times how a couple months after the
collapse, I was picking up some tools in the hardware store and the employees
could be seen running around sticking new prices over the old ones, there wasn’t
even time to remove the previous prices. By the time I picked up the drill I
was buying, looked around for a couple minutes and made it to the cash register
the drill had doubled in price. I complained, we went back to where I picked it
and indeed the new price was there, but I peeled off a couple stickers and
showed the price at which I had picked it up.

In the case of Argentina, with the December 2001 devaluation
the peso went from 1 to 1against the
dollar to 1 to 1.4. A couple days later people where buying it on the street
for an exchange rate of 1 to 2. You could buy at the “official” 1.4 at banks and
sell at 1 to 2 on the street, making money with the “financial bicycle” as it
was then called. Within days the official exchange went up to 1 USd to 2 Pesos
to stop this. A month later the exchange rate was 1 to 3, two months later it
was 1 to 3.6, spiked to 1 to 4 but then went down again and remained at 3 to 3.5
for several years until 2010 when it started going up again. Today the official
exchange rate is 1 dollar to 5 pesos, but since buying dollars is officially
banned you have to go to the black market where the price is 1 to 7 or 8.

Based on what I’ve read, yes, a currency can become completely
worthless overnight, but that’s most often the case of very unstable economies
like we’ve seen in Zimbabwe, for example. Don’t expect the dollar to lose most
of its value overnight, it will be a much slower process, even spikes will be
moderate and taking several days.

Now, you mention food, guns and even your generator,
which are pretty much mandatory in places where storms may leave you without
power for weeks.

These are the things you need to have for preparedness
and which are either impossible or hard to get with short notice should you
ever need them in a hurry.

Generators will be sold out and fuel will be
impossible to find when there’s a big storm, we saw this very recently with
Sandy and we have seem similar events unfolding before during other natural
disasters. In that case the money does you no good. You need the actual genny
and enough jerry cans to get by for a week or two. Same thing goes for food,
guns & ammo and medical supplies.

Yamaha EF2000iS 2,000 Watt 79cc OHV 4-Stroke Gas Powered Portable Inverter Generator (CARB Compliant)Jerry Can - 20 literToday its hard or even impossible to find 9mm and 22LR
among other calibers. If you didn’t stock
up back in the day, today you find ammo to be hard to find and expensive.If the dollar crashes, you would see these
products going up accordingly. The price of a Yamaha or Honda generator wontstay the same for long, it will quickly go up
in proportion to how much value the dollar lost and you will pay two or three
times as much as you would have paid before. In that case, the cash you have in
your pocket is “melting”, buying you less goods and services as times goes by,
especially so for high value goods like guns, a generator or other items that
involve significant use of imported components.

Still, as you note, yes you sometimes make nice deals during
that kind of unstable times. While the currency is devaluating, at the same
time there’s a shortage of cash to go around so you can use that as leverage to
some extent, especially during the first weeks. After the first three or four
weeks the dust settles and you lose some of the leverage even though cash
always lands you some discounts. In this case yes, you are better off using the
cash that is devaluating, stocking up on food, fuel, paying bills and generally
using up the money before its worth even less.

Six months worth of expenses in cash is not a bad idea
in my opinion. It would sure give you options if things ever get ugly fast,
such as buying your way out of there if you chose to escape to a safer country.
I like the idea of having enough money in cash to buy plane tickets for each
family member, plus some money to get by, maybe rent a place to live as you get
settled. Beyond six months you probably want something that is more “economic
collapse proof”, so you’re looking at precious metals.

My advice for everyone is, cover the basics of a month
worth of food, water, and a gun for protection, then have a small cash stash
for emergencies. Once you finish with your other preparation supplies, the ones
you’re not likely to just go buy during emergencies, build up your savings
further, with enough cash at home to get a plane ticket per person plus some
more to get settled. 6 months worth of expenses in cash isn’t unreasonable if
you can save up as much. You will sure find good use for it in a time of need one
way or another. Beyond that we’re talking precious metals, and investments.

About Me

Camping Survival

Fish Antibiotics

Subscribe To

My email:

ferfal308@hot (remove) mail.com

Guys, unless specifically told not to, I'll post the reply here in the blog so everyone can read it.I'll just leave the first name, and remove the last name, email or any other specific information for privacy reasons.Thanks

Leatherman Charge Ti

Fenix Lights

I love this light. Runs on a single AAA and is capable of big boy lumen output (80 lumens) in a keychain package. Also has low and mid mode for longer runtime.
Fenix PD20
Single CR123 cell. 6 modes including 180 lumen turbo mode.
General Mode: 9 lumens (35hrs) -> 47 lumens (6.5hrs) -> 94 lumens (2.6hrs) -> SOS
Turbo Mode: 180 lumens (1hrs) -> Strobe
15 days of survival use (2 continuous hours per day on the lowest setting)

Thanks for the Positive Reviews!

Energency gadget... on steroids.

Asus Eee 1005HA

Basic Door/Window Alarm

Emergency gadget

Both tool and weapon, just the right size

Straight edge makes it easier to sharpen, + tougher tip

Gorilla Tape

By all accounts and reviews I’ve read so far, it truly is “The toughest Tape on the Planet”

Transportation

I talked about these some time ago in an article, remember someone asked where to get one.
"Alternative Transportation"
Just found one reasonably priced and with excellent reviews in Amazon.

Best Folder

Emergency blankets. I Have several of these around.

Katadyn water filter

for the kits

and food ...

Got to have water: Klean Kanteen Stainless Steel

Moleskine, the ultimate little black cover notebook :)

Fenix L0D-CE. Perfect keychain light. 80 Lumens in a single AAA

Nice combo. The Soldier is an excellent product.

Sabre Red OC spray

Made in USA
This is the brand I use and always have one in my bag and car. ( same brand used by NYPD)
My wife keeps one in her purse too.
Sabre Red Tear Gas
Sabre Red for ladies
You guys have the coolest stuff up there.:)

Jack Bauer’s bag.:) I’d like to get one of these and try it out.

Fox OC Spray

Don’t have this one but it’s the hottest OC spray out there.
Someone once called it “bottled lava”
Pick your poison people, but do carry OC
1) Even if you carry a gun
2) SPECIALLY if you don’t carry a gun

Firesteel

Classic, and one of the few things I’d call a “must have” I own two of these.